When One Compliments the Other
by TheMannMan
Summary: ...perfection is obtained.  Franziska is foolishly called upon to serve as a defense attorney.  When she finds out that her client is Adrian Andrews, however, it seems to be a little less idiotic.  Attempt at FranziskaAdrian.  Updated at my leisure.


If there was one thing Franziska hated, it was a disturbance in her perfectly calculated schedule. It was just her luck that one such disturbance occurred that day.

"Message for Ms…" _WHA-CRACK! _"…von Karma," Edgeworth said cooly, pausing only slightly at the snap of von Karma's whip at his feet. No fear showing on his face, he calmly walked in and shut the door behind him.

"What sort of foolish business do you have for me, Miles?" Franziska asked tersely. Her whip was strung tight between her two hands, poised to deliver another warning shot to the feet. "My day leaves little room for err."

"Put the whip down, Franziska, and have a seat. This is going to take awhile. I know you have no pressing cases today, and no paperwork to fill out. Your 'perfectly calculated day' isn't going to be interrupted too much by me. In fact, I may have something to fill it with."

Franziska sighed, and did as Edgeworth asked. As much as she hated to admit it, he was certainly right. Throughout her day, she had done nothing but re-read law books she had read hundreds of times over, memorized to the very crosses on each individual T. "Very well then, I shall hear you out. It's certainly less foolish than this book, anyway."

Edgeworth, in a style very much unlike him, began to laugh. Not a simple arrogant chuckle, like he always gave, but a full-on, from-the-belly-to-the-surface, laugh. Franziska wondered if he simply broke down from the strain of keeping it all in, and had let it out in one gigantic burst. Knowing Edgeworth, it was a certain possibility. And Franziska was getting more tired of it the more it was going on. "Will you **cease** your foolishly foolish raving and get on with your foolish business like the fool you are?!"

Miles managed to contain himself after that, still letting the occasional chuckle escape him. "Sorry…but after you hear me out you might not feel the same about that book's…'foolishness.'" He handed a manila envelope to Franziska, saying, "This just came into my office today. I'm sure you know the defendant very well."

Franziska gave a little, "Hmpf!" at that, exclaiming just how silly she thought the idea was. "Who do I know well who lives **here**?" she asked herself. After moving her office to Los Angeles, she really hadn't been in contact with anyone except those she hated. That is, the foolish detective, the foolish attorney, and her 'little brother' in front of her. Swiping a blue lock away with a gloved hand, she took the file with the other and perfectly opened it, and not-so-perfectly let the papers fall on her desk as the suspect's name and picture stared her in the face. "A…**ADRIAN?!**"

Edgeworth merely gave a little nod. "Charged with stealing a…'priceless' urn from the 'Treasures of Kurain' exhibit."

"What the heck?! She's the one who **brought **the exhibit here in the first place! Why would she go about **stealing **that stuff?"

"Thus making her the prime suspect. After all, she knows the ins and outs of security unlike anyone else there. The other evidence is listed in the report, as well."

"But…I mean…" Franziska, for a change, had completely lost it. Her face contorted with frustration, and her normally perfect intellect failed to come up with any sort of objection. She sighed, tried to let the anger flow out of her, failed, and ended up glaring at Edgeworth instead. "So? Why did you want to bring this to my attention?"

Edgeworth smirked, like he was about to get to the punchline of a joke. "The thing is, Ms. Von Karma…they want **you** to be the defense attorney for this case."

Silence struck the air as quick as the Steel Samurai's blade and lingered as long as his theme song. Then, in what was rapidly becoming quite the communicable disease, von Karma began to laugh. And laugh. And she kept on laughing, thinking this all to be some gigantic prank, while Edgeworth merely sat there, a serious expression on his face. Eventually, Franziska slowly came to the realization that this was no joke. "You…you're **serious** about this, aren't you?"

Edgeworth nodded. "Mr. Wright **would** be defending her…," Franziska scoffed at the mention of the foolish defense lawyer, "but, unfortunately, this is a personal matter for his assistant, you see…"

Ms. von Karma flat-out groaned at the mention. "You mean Maya Fey, don't you? I assume that other little brat is in on this, too?

"Quite. They have…forbidden Mr. Wright to take on the case. Unfortunately, the other lawyers in the city have no idea why Mr. Wright has turned this down, and so decline it themselves out of fear." Seeing no change in Franziska's glare, Edgeworth sighed and laid his hands on the desk. "It's not that bad, Franziska. You remember, I did it once before. It didn't kill me. I'm still here."

"So why don't you do it again?!" she snapped, though, somewhere down in that miserably foolish and imperfect thing called her "emotional side," she really didn't want him to.

"Because, under the same persuasion as Mr. Wright, I have been…**convinced** to be the prosecuting attorney for this trial. And, unfortunately, no other prosecutor is willing to take the defense in Wright's stand."

Franziska stared at the files in front of her, a contemplative look on her face. True, she did not need to bother with this, could shove it off as someone else's problem, and could easily go back to something certainly less foolish than this. Yet…her heart was giving her the signal to go for it, to take this thing up…but why the heck would she ever **do** that?!

Edgeworth could see that she was on the cusp, and leaned in to give her one final word of encouragement. "You realize, if I'm prosecuting the case, and if you take this up…you could finally have your revenge, finally defeat me in our own battlefield…and prove yourself the stronger of us two even when not on your home turf…"

That did it. Franziska now had something to go on other than what some wimpy organ was telling her. "Hmpf…fine then," she said curtly. "When's the trial?"

"Tomorrow, nine o'clock sharp. I expect great things from you, Franny." With that, Edgeworth promptly and immediately ran out the door, slamming it behind him, only to hear a whip crack against the wooden frame, and a voice resound through the very wall itself.

"DON'T YOU EVER CALL ME THAT AGAIN!"


End file.
